The Winter Soldier
by gwynnifer
Summary: Missing scene from Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Inspired by a prompt on the avengerskink meme. Contains SPOILERS for the Winter Soldier movie. Actual summary will be inside in the notes at the beginning of the fic to avoid unwanted spoiling.


_Inspired by prompt asking for Bucky to have to perform CPR on Cap to save him after pulling him from the water, and not want to leave him alone until help arrived. Mostly Bucky introspection and feels._

* * *

He was the Winter Soldier.

Finishing missions didn't really satisfy him. He didn't get a sense of accomplishment; he simply received orders and carried them out because that was what he was made for. It was all he'd ever known, all he could remember. He didn't get angry, he didn't worry, and he didn't fail; he just went from one mission to the next.

His mission had been to kill Captain America. He hadn't known much about his target, but there wasn't much he needed to know. The target was a former SHIELD operative, strong like him, and a high priority.

His job was to eliminate him. Simple.

They fought, he shot his target multiple times, and the man kept getting up. He used all his training and every available resource, and still found himself pinned under a metal beam while the helicarrier fell from the sky.

He'd failed, for the first time he could remember.

Then suddenly he'd looked up to find his target, the man he was supposed to kill, straining to lift the beam off him while still bleeding from multiple wounds.

It confused him, but he also recognized it as a good thing. If his target was going to give him another opportunity to complete his mission, he was going to take it.

His confusion grew when Captain America ripped off his helmet and refused to fight him. As the man allowed his shield to tumble out of the ship as if it didn't even matter, he couldn't help but wonder what kind of game the guy was playing. Was he rigged with something? Was this some sort of trick?

Then Captain America called him Bucky - James Buchanan Barnes, and he felt something shift deep inside. His mind didn't recognize the name, but there was something in him that felt uncomfortable hearing it.

He didn't normally feel uncomfortable; he didn't normally feel much of anything.

Then there was that phrase. _To the end of the line._ A block of ice formed in his stomach when he heard it.

_To the end of the line._ He thought he caught a glimpse of something in his mind. Just a flash of a much smaller man standing outside a door. Someone had said that phrase. It almost felt like it might've been him. Something about that phrase resonated with him in a way he didn't understand.

It made him angry.

But as he hit the man who claimed to know him, who claimed to be a friend... as he beat his fist against his face over and over, the ice in his stomach grew until all he could feel was a horrible chill strangling his chest.

"Complete your mission," the man slurred.

The Winter Soldier watched him fall.

And then dove in after him.

The water was cold, and hitting it was a shock. Something about it seemed almost familiar, though.

Debris from the helicarrier was landing in the water all around him, and he paused, searching for a familiar form.

Searching for his target, or maybe not, anymore.

He went up twice for air before he spotted the uniformed body drifting under the water. By the time they got to shore, it was clear to him that the captain wasn't breathing.

He'd been trained for this too, though.

He pushed on the still chest and blew into the slack mouth over and over until he felt a twitch beneath him. Then he rolled the man onto his side while he coughed and retched up water.

He stood and watched silently as the man slowly rolled himself onto his back, a trickle of water still leaking from his mouth.

He wanted to leave him there, but he couldn't make his feet move. He'd completed his mission, but he'd also failed.

_To the end of the line._ The phrase shot through in his mind like a pinball, bouncing around inside, trying to knock things loose.

Captain America laid before him pathetic and pale, breathing uneven, chest barely moving at all, still bleeding from multiple wounds. The man slurred a name, eyes still closed. _Bucky._

He knelt down again, almost against his will, and began to put pressure on the wounds. One hand on the lower left side, and the other higher and to the right. Even though the man beneath him barely seemed to be breathing, blood continued to pulse sluggishly from the wounds despite his efforts.

"Always too dumb to run from a fight," he muttered without knowing why, suddenly dizzy.

It would be so easy to kill him. Would've been even easier to let him drown. Why couldn't he do it? He had to complete his mission. He had to eliminate his target.

The captain moaned softly, eyelids fluttering but not opening.

He couldn't do it. He didn't know why, but he couldn't do it and it enraged him. Who was this man? He'd never had a problem killing before. He'd never failed to complete a mission.

The man moaned again, barely a breath. "...end of the line... Buck"

He growled, his breath stuttering on what he refused to believe was a sob. "Who are you, you son of a bitch?" he ground out.

Then he heard it. Someone was coming - a helicopter, approaching fast, from the sound of it. He got up quickly, fading back into the trees, but still keeping the captain in sight.

They were on the ground fast; the redhead from earlier and a few others converging on Captain America, bundling him up to take him away like precious cargo.

He watched until the helicopter was gone, and even the sound had faded away. They never saw him.

He was the Winter Soldier.


End file.
